CHICAGO (AP) Pitching coach Larry Rothschild has signed a one-year contract to return to the Chicago Cubs after a weighing an offer to go to the Detroit Tigers and be reunited with manager Jim Leyland.
Rothschild was Florida's pitching coach and Leyland the manager when the Marlins won the 1997 World Series. Leyland was hired last week to manage the Tigers; Detroit's general manager, Dave Dombrowski, was the Marlins' GM in that championship year.
"It was a very tough decision," Rothschild said. "Probably for about five or six days I went back and forth a lot, talking to people. With Dave Dombrowski and Jim, we won a World Series and I had a relationship with both of them. That made it tough, but in the end my obligation was more important."
Rothschild will begin his fifth season with the Cubs, having joined the staff the year before Dusty Baker became manager. The Cubs have been ravaged by injuries the last two seasons, especially to young aces Kerry Wood and Mark Prior.
"I took the job four years ago with winning in mind and we haven't accomplished that," Rothschild said.
The Cubs will bring back their entire staff from last season's disappointing 79-83 finish, good for fourth in the NL Central.
Bench coach Dick Pole, hitting coach Gene Clines, first base coach Gary Matthews, third base coach Chris Speier and bullpen coach Juan Lopez will all return. Sonny Jackson will also return as a special assistant to manager Dusty Baker.
Lopez, Matthews and Jackson all return for their fourth season with the Cubs. Speier was hired last year.
Pole will return for his eighth season as a Cubs coach, as he served as the pitching coach from 1988-1991. Clines returns for his seventh season, having been the first base coach from 1979-1981.
"We think he (Rothschild) is one of the most respected pitching coaches in the game and he has two World Series rings to show for that," Cubs general manager Jim Hendry said.
Rothschild won a ring as the Reds' bullpen coach in 1990 before getting another seven years later. He was also the manager of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
"Nobody is here at the park longer than Larry. And the pitchers recognize that. He spends countless hours trying to make them better mechanically and mentally," Hendry said.
Sprtnut44310 
